By the time Arne Slot led his devastated players up the steps to receive their runners-up medals, Liverpool’s half of Wembley was deserted.
You could hardly blame them for making a quick exit. They had just sat through the club’s worst performance in a major final this century.
Liverpool didn’t just lose to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final, they were hopelessly second best in all departments. The final scoreline massively flattered them.
After a season brimming with positivity, what a deflating week with back-t0-back defeats for the first time in the Slot era. If the Champions League exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain on penalties was unfortunate, this was inexcusable — an error-strewn, lacklustre display with no redeeming qualities.
Of course a sense of perspective is important. Twelve points clear of Arsenal with nine games remaining, Liverpool remain in the box seat to win the Premier League when domestic action resumes after the international break. That achievement alone would still make Slot’s first season at the helm one to cherish.
The phrase ‘only the league title’ is laughable given the size of the prize and the fact Liverpool had waited 30 years to win it before Jurgen Klopp oversaw their previous triumph in 2020.
However, Sunday’s debacle can’t just be swept under the carpet. How on earth did they fluff their lines so badly on the big stage?
Physical and mental fatigue
The intensity of that energy-sapping two-legged tie against PSG undoubtedly took its toll. And then there was the psychological impact of going out of Europe in such heartbreaking fashion.
Nine of Liverpool’s 10 outfield players at Wembley also started both games against the French champions. Privately, Slot will surely regret his lack of rotation against lowly Southampton before the second leg against PSG at Anfield when he only made three changes. He should have shown more faith in fringe players such as Wataru Endo and Harvey Elliott.
Liverpool’s head coach gave his players Thursday off in the build-up to Sunday’s final in the hope it would help inject some freshness, but they were flat and passive against Newcastle.
“This game had nothing to do with running, this game had only to do with playing duels,” Slot insisted. “You cannot judge if we were tired yes or no because we could not press them. There was nothing to press because they played over our press.
“This game went exactly the way they wanted it to: a fight with a lot of duels and a lot of duels in the air. And if we play 10 times a game of football through the air against them, they win it probably nine times because they are a stronger team through the air than us.”
Liverpool got bullied against Newcastle as they lost challenge after challenge. If it wasn’t fatigue, then it was a lack of desire, which is much more damning. Slot’s side won just 43 per cent of duels overall and just 32 per cent of aerial duels.
Ryan Gravenberch has certainly been overworked. Having clocked up 1,839 minutes last season, he’s played almost double that amount this time around (3,516 mins). He won just three out of seven duels on Sunday, while fellow midfielders Alexis Mac Allister (two out of seven) and Dominik Szoboszlai (three out of eight) also struggled with the physicality of the contest.
A lack of control and creativity
“We were outplayed in their style, yeah, that’s true. That is what you can call outplayed,” Slot said.
“Yeah, they won more duels than us. Is that what you mean? Outplayed for me is if you don’t touch the ball and they play through you every single time we tried to press them, every time you’re too late.
“That is, for me, outplayed. But I agree with you if you say that they deserved to win because the game went the way they wanted it to go. Yes, they deserved to win, but it wasn’t like we were only running after them. We had to defend a lot of long balls and second balls and that’s their strength.”
Forget Newcastle’s direct approach, Liverpool simply failed to impose themselves on the game. Where was the composure and penetration in possession? Why was it so disjointed? Liverpool had 66 per cent of the ball but did so little with it because their decision-making was so poor. They weren’t brave enough.
They had just two touches of the ball in Newcastle’s box before the break and didn’t force a save from Nick Pope until substitute Curtis Jones tested him just before the hour mark. Slot’s only starters to create a single chance according to Opta were Szoboszlai and Luis Diaz.
Liverpool were their own worst enemy as they kept conceding cheap set pieces. The midfield unit was overwhelmed. Plus, Liverpool weren’t exactly shy of lumping it long themselves, especially during that ragged finale when captain Virgil van Dijk was utilised as a makeshift attacker.
Newcastle had 17 shots to seven, six versus two on target, xG (expected goals) was 1.84 against 0.89. Yeah, that’s being comprehensively outplayed.
How Liverpool missed the creative spark of the injured Trent Alexander-Arnold. This was the kind of occasion which laid bare what they will be without if the right-back joins Real Madrid when his contract expires this summer. His stand-in, Jarell Quansah, did well in the circumstances, but he was never going to hurt Newcastle with his range of passing. They were content to let him have the ball.
Slot outmanoeuvred
A feature of this season has been Slot making clever tactical tweaks or personnel changes to help swing games in Liverpool’s direction. He’s usually been one step ahead. Not this time.
It was unclear what the game plan was as Liverpool started badly and got worse. The warning signs were there with some of Newcastle’s early set pieces that Dan Burn got his head on.
Why were they not heeded? Why was Mac Allister left marking him as Burn powered a header from Kieran Trippier’s corner past Caoimhin Kelleher? It was a mismatch.
“I can explain,” Slot said. “We play zonal, so we have five players zonally close to our goal, so if the ball falls there, it is always one of the five stronger players that are going to attack that ball.
“And we have three players that man-mark and Macca is one of them. Normally a player like Dan Burn runs to the zone. I have never seen in my life a player from that far away heading a ball with so much force into the far corner.
“They either have to go far away from our zone, which 99 times out of 100 will never lead to a goal, or they have to arrive in our zone and then it’s an equal battle.”
Given Liverpool’s wretched first-half display, it’s unclear why Slot waited to ring the changes. By the time the substitutions belatedly arrived in the second half, they were already 2-0 down after Andy Robertson was found wanting at the far post and Jacob Murphy’s nod down teed up Alexander Isak.
Jones and Elliott came on and created three chances between them (more than Liverpool’s 11 starters combined), but pressure wasn’t sustained. There were so many gaps for Newcastle to exploit on the counter-attack that a comeback never looked likely. Eddie Howe did a job on Slot.
An over-reliance on Salah’s firepower
Salah has been the standout performer in the Premier League this season. His return of 32 goals and 22 assists in 43 games in all competitions is extraordinary.
The prolific Egyptian’s record-breaking contribution has been such that others not pulling their weight has gone under the radar. However, on a day when he was so well shackled and had just 23 touches, the spotlight rightly fell on those around him. Salah can’t always ride to the rescue. It was only the third game that he has failed to record either a shot or create a chance in 392 appearances for the club.
Diogo Jota is stuck in a rut. Given his dismal recent performances, he was lucky to start at Wembley and made little impression. Jota, who completed just four of his 10 passes, made a complete hash of Liverpool’s only chance in the first half and has now gone 10 games without a goal. He looks devoid of confidence.
Luis Diaz fared little better and his early season hot streak is a distant memory. The Colombian has one goal in his last 18 appearances.
If Liverpool were going to hit so many aimless long balls, it would have made much more sense for Slot to start Darwin Nunez, who came on for Jota but fired blanks and has netted just once in 13 matches.
With Cody Gakpo so rusty after his recent injury absence, the only bright spark was provided by Federico Chiesa. The Italy international looked sharp and coolly slotted home a consolation goal from Elliott’s incisive pass in stoppage time. Chiesa did more in 20 minutes than Jota and Diaz combined.
Slot needs to revisit his pecking order of attackers after the international break because Chiesa deserves more game time during the run-in.
“It was a tough week, but it was also a week where we extended our lead in the Premier League to 12 points, so it wasn’t all negative,” Slot said.
“You know if you go far in tournaments that the opposition you face gets stronger and stronger. Even Liverpool can lose football games, that’s what can happen.”
The Dutchman’s attempts to put a positive spin on the narrative were understandable after two painful setbacks, but you can’t lose a final in such meek fashion. You can’t be found wanting like this when there’s silverware on the line.
(Top photo: Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images)
